Antonelli dominates at COTA, inches closer to Championship; Leclerc superb for Ferrari in P2, Verstappen a solid P3; Russell continues to fade, earns lowly P8 result

Mercedes’ young phenom Kimi Antonelli inched closer to his first Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship with a dominant win from pole at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on Sunday. That impressive United States Grand Prix victory, Antonelli’s ninth win out of 18 rounds run so far in 2026, puts him on the cusp of the F1 crown, which will likely happen at the next race in Mexico City and would make the 20-year-old Antonelli the sport’s youngest-ever World Champ by over three years. The baby faced Italian superstar ran a supremely confident one-stop tire strategy and was one of the only drivers to make that work, the other top four finishers opting for two-stoppers, including the second place Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, the third place Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the second Prancing Horse of P4 Lewis Hamilton. The rest of the top ten ran a one-stopper like Antonelli but without anywhere near the same effectiveness.

Easy does it 🫨

There were several instances of contact up and down the field on the first lap in Austin ‼️

#F1 #USGP https://t.co/CKd6AG5X2c

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 26, 2026

McLaren gambled on running a long second stint on Hard Pirellis with Lando Norris, clearly their fastest driver at COTA this weekend, calling him in on just Lap 16 of this grueling 56-lap event with an eye on future track position and perhaps goal hanging for a Safety Car later in the race. In the end the ask proved too great for the reigning World Champion, as first Verstappen, who opted for a second stop on Lap 31 for fresh Mediums, hunted down Norris on his aging Hards and executed a superb pass on Lap 42. Then Leclerc subsequently demoted Norris to fourth place a lap later, having pitted for how own fresh Mediums some eight laps after Verstappen. Leclerc then made excellent use of that advantage by closing down the small gap to Verstappen and then passing the Red Bull for second place just a few laps later. Adding to McLaren’s meh results, Hamilton was able to nick P4 from Norris in the closing laps, while the team’s second car, driven by the inconsistent Oscar Piastri, struggled to a mediocre P7 result. The second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar slotted in between the two Team Papaya cars with a solid P7 finish, while the second Mercedes of George Russell, who also ran a one-stopper, was miles away from his points leading teammate in P8, some 54 seconds adrift of the victorious Antonelli. In truth, with Russell clearly languishing after his first pit stop, the team should probably have considered splitting their strategy and having Russell come in for a second stop. With Antonelli never under threat, it might have given the Briton more of a fighting chance to improve his position against at least Piastri and perhaps even Hadjar. Regardless, Russell has looked a beaten man of late, the combination of some very bad mechanical luck this season and his upstart teammate’s utter domination leading to a lack of results of late. One eye clearly on next year, Russell now finds himself clinging to just a one-point lead over Hamilton for second in the Drivers’ Standings.

Top 10 finishers of the USGP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time, as the teams cross the border and head south to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Grand Prix of Mexico City. All signs point to Antonelli clinching there and becoming the youngest-ever F1 champ. Hope to see you then to find out if that happy event comes good down Mexico way!